Chess guides
These guides answer the questions players ask before they pay for chess coaching or chase a rating or a title: how to play, what coaching costs, how to pick a coach, how ratings and FIDE titles work, which openings to learn and where a Lichess rating sits among active players. Each one gives dated sources.
Coaching
What chess lessons cost and how to choose a coach, before you spend anything.
Online chess coach with an International Master
What an online chess coach does, how to judge one, and how coaching with George Li starts and what it costs.
Online chess lessons with an International Master
How a one-on-one online lesson with George Li runs, who it suits, what it costs and how to book the first one.
How much does chess coaching cost?
Published rates for private, group and subscription chess coaching, with the source and the date of each.
What to decide first, the questions to ask, what a first lesson should show and the red flags to avoid.
Chess coach near me: online or in person
How coaching near you differs from an online coach, and the questions to ask either one.
AI chess coach vs human chess coach
What an engine coach does well, what a human coach adds and how to use both.
Chess coach vs chess course: how to choose
How a coach and a course differ, when each fits and how to use both.
How to teach kids chess: a guide for parents
What a child learns first, what a parent does at each stage and when to bring in a coach.
A game review, a read on your level and a written study plan from George Li.
Chess Coach: One-on-One Lessons With an IM
Work with George Li, an International Master, one-on-one online: your games reviewed on screen, a training block and a written plan after every lesson.
Chess Lessons for Kids: A Parent's Guide
One-on-one online chess lessons for children by an International Master. What a lesson looks like for each age, how progress shows and how to choose a package.
Chess Tutor: Structured One-on-One Teaching
A chess tutor teaches you the game step by step. Learn how a tutor differs from a coach or a course, what is taught and what a four-week plan looks like.
Online Chess Classes for Kids: Private, Group or App
Private lessons, group classes and chess apps compared for kids on one table: when a group is enough, when a coach pays off and what to ask before you pay.
Learn chess
Plain lessons with diagrams: the pieces, the board, the rules, the first ten moves and how to improve.
Chess for kids explained in eight pictures: the board, each piece, how to win, and three first games to play with a parent, written for ages 6 and up.
Chess Pieces: Names, Values and Moves
The six chess pieces explained: their names, letters, point values, how each moves and when the numbers lie, with diagrams for every piece.
Chess Strategies for Beginners
Seven chess strategy rules for beginners with a position for each: the first ten moves, the middlegame, the endgame and a checklist to use on every move.
How to Get Better at Chess: 7 Habits
A plan to get better at chess from an International Master: seven habits ranked by payoff, time plans for 3, 5 and 8 hours a week and what to stop doing.
Where to look up a USCF rating, how to read the member page, why a US Chess rating is not a FIDE rating and how to estimate yours before you have one.
How to Play Chess: A Beginner's Guide
Learn how to play chess from the first move: the board, how every piece moves, check and checkmate, castling, en passant and a first game move by move.
How to set up a chess board in eight steps: board direction, where every piece goes, the queen on her color and the mistakes beginners make most.
How to Win at Chess: What Decides Games
How games are really decided at each level, a blunder-check routine you can use every move, the fast mates to know and avoid, and how to convert a won game.
Openings
How each opening starts, the plans behind it, how it scores at your rating and two real games to study.
Seven chess openings for White compared by score at each rating level, with the plan, the typical mistake and the idea to know for each, written by an IM.
Best Chess Openings, Ranked by Score
The best chess openings for White and Black ranked by how they score at four rating bands in rated Lichess games, with the method and sample sizes stated.
Chess opening guides by an International Master: the moves, the plans, typical mistakes and how each opening scores by rating band on Lichess.
Ratings and titles
How ratings are computed, how to get a first FIDE rating and how FIDE titles are earned.
What a rating measures, how FIDE, Lichess, US Chess and chess.com compute theirs, and why the numbers differ.
The Handbook rules for a first FIDE rating: five rated games, the 1400 floor, the two 1800 draws and a worked example.
How the Candidate Master, FIDE Master, International Master and Grandmaster titles are earned, with every Handbook clause.
Average chess rating and a good chess rating
What share of active Lichess players are rated above 800, 1200, 1500, 1800 or 2000, by time control.
Data from public games
Numbers computed from the public Lichess open database, with the method and the date on every page.
Average chess rating and a good chess rating
What share of active Lichess players are rated above 800, 1200, 1500, 1800 or 2000, by time control.
Most popular chess openings and win rates
The most played openings, how often White wins, and how the numbers change with rating, computed from public games.
Best chess openings for beginners
The openings players rated under 1200 meet most, with how White scored in each and the margin of every score.
Tools and reference
Calculators that show their formulas, and plain definitions of chess terms.
Rating, US Chess rating, performance, time control and title norm calculators that show their formulas and sources.
Plain definitions of chess terms, each with an example position or the rule it comes from.
Ready for a plan built around your own games?
Start with a first lesson: George reviews your games and builds a written study plan.
Cancel or reschedule a lesson up to 24 hours ahead by replying to the email that set it up, and it stays on your package.